rloaded, she could
not possibly reach the shore, preferred remaining on the wreck. A very
short time convinced him, that his suspicion was too well grounded; for
before the boat was out of sight, she overset, and every one on board
perished.

In this dangerous situation, expecting that the ship would go to pieces
every moment, he continued till the afternoon, when the storm began to
abate, and the sea became tolerably calm, and by the ebb of the tide the
ship was much nearer the land than when she first struck. King Pippin
now conceived hopes of gaining the shore, by means of a raft which he
had constructed in the best manner he could; and, furnishing himself
with such things as he thought might be useful to him on shore, he let
down his raft into the sea, and placing himself on it, began to paddle
towards the land; he had proceeded about a mile with great difficulty,
when a sudden gust of wind instantly overset his whole cargo, and he was
obliged to swim near a mile farther before he could reach the shore.

[Illustration]

After returning thanks to God Almighty for his great goodness towards
him, in preserving him alone of the whole ship's crew, King Pippin
began to consider in what manner he should spend the night, which now
drew on apace. Not knowing but there might be wild beasts on the island,
he was for some time at a loss how to secure himself, till recollecting
he had read, that Robinson Crusoe, when he was cast away on an
uninhabited island, had spent the night on the top of a thick tree, he
had recourse to the same method, and after the great fatigue he had
undergone, slept very soundly till morning, when he descended from his
new lodging, and walked several miles about the island, to discover if
it was inhabited, but not being able to find the least traces of any
human creature, he returned towards the sea-side, in hopes that some of
the ship's provisions might be driven on shore; in this too, however, he
was disappointed, and hunger obliged him to set about inventing a snare
for taking some of the goats, of which he had seen great numbers in his
morning walk, but they were so exceeding wild, that it proved a very
laborious task, and employed the greatest part of King Pippin's time
during his stay on the island; indeed he was sometimes so unsuccessful,
that a few vegetables alone were his only sustenance for days together.
Some months after he had been cast away on this solitary place, being
one day greatl